U.S. patent number 9,755,704 [Application Number 15/244,782] was granted by the patent office on 2017-09-05 for multimodal communication system induction and radio and method.
This patent grant is currently assigned to BRAGI GmbH. The grantee listed for this patent is BRAGI GmbH. Invention is credited to Eric Christian Hirsch, Nikolaj Hviid.
United States Patent |
9,755,704 |
Hviid , et al. |
September 5, 2017 |
Multimodal communication system induction and radio and method
Abstract
A system of wearable or personal area devices includes a first
earpiece and a second ear piece each of the first ear piece and the
second ear piece comprising an ear piece housing, an induction
circuit disposed within the ear piece housing for short range
communications, and a radio transceiver disposed within the ear
piece housing for radio communications. The induction circuit of
the first ear piece and the induction circuit of the second ear
piece are adapted for communication there between using high
bandwidth audio.
Inventors: |
Hviid; Nikolaj (Munchen,
DE), Hirsch; Eric Christian (Munchen, DE) |
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
BRAGI GmbH |
Munchen |
N/A |
DE |
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Assignee: |
BRAGI GmbH (Munchen,
DE)
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Family
ID: |
58097002 |
Appl.
No.: |
15/244,782 |
Filed: |
August 23, 2016 |
Prior Publication Data
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Document
Identifier |
Publication Date |
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US 20170063434 A1 |
Mar 2, 2017 |
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Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
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62211716 |
Aug 29, 2015 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04R
1/1016 (20130101); H04R 25/552 (20130101); H04W
4/80 (20180201); H04B 5/0075 (20130101); H04R
1/1041 (20130101); H04R 5/033 (20130101); H04R
2420/07 (20130101); H04R 2201/107 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
H04M
1/00 (20060101); H04B 5/00 (20060101); H04W
4/00 (20090101); H04R 1/10 (20060101); H04R
25/00 (20060101) |
Field of
Search: |
;455/41.1,569.1,575.2 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
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1017252 |
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Jul 2000 |
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EP |
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2074817 |
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Apr 1981 |
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GB |
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06292195 |
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Oct 1998 |
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JP |
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2014043179 |
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Mar 2014 |
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WO |
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2015110577 |
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Jul 2015 |
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WO |
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2015110587 |
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Jul 2015 |
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WO |
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Other References
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People--Awesomeness (May 13, 2014). cited by applicant .
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More People, Timeline(Mar. 6, 2015). cited by applicant .
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Development Kit (Jun. 5, 2014). cited by applicant .
BRAGI Update--Let's Get Ready to Rumble, A Lot to Be Done Over
Christmas (Dec. 22, 2014). cited by applicant .
BRAGI Update--Memories From April--Update on Progress (Sep. 16,
2014). cited by applicant .
BRAGI Update--Memories from May--Update on Progress--Sweet (Oct.
13, 2014). cited by applicant .
BRAGI Update--Memories From One Month Before Kickstarter--Update on
Progress (Jul. 10, 2014). cited by applicant .
BRAGI Update--Memories From the First Month of Kickstarter--Update
on Progress (Aug. 1, 2014). cited by applicant .
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on Progress (Aug. 22, 2014). cited by applicant .
BRAGI Update--New People @BRAGI--Prototypes (Jun. 26, 2014). cited
by applicant .
BRAGI Update--Office Tour, Tour to China, Tour to CES (Dec. 11,
2014). cited by applicant .
BRAGI Update--Status on Wireless, Bits and Pieces, Testing--Oh
Yeah, Timeline(Apr. 24, 2015). cited by applicant .
BRAGI Update--The App Preview, The Charger, The SDK, BRAGI Funding
and Chinese New Year (Feb. 11, 2015). cited by applicant .
BRAGI Update--What We Did Over Christmas, Las Vegas & CES (Jan.
19, 2014). cited by applicant .
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Finishing What We Started(Jun. 5, 2015). cited by applicant .
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16, 2015). cited by applicant .
BRAGI Update--Beta2 Production and Factory Line(Aug. 20, 2015).
cited by applicant .
BRAGI Update--Certifications, Production, Ramping Up (Nov. 13,
2015). cited by applicant .
BRAGI Update--Developer Units Shipping and Status(Oct. 5, 2015).
cited by applicant .
BRAGI Update--Developer Units Started Shipping and Status (Oct. 19,
2015). cited by applicant .
BRAGI Update--Developer Units, Investment, Story and Status(Nov. 2,
2015). cited by applicant .
BRAGI Update--Getting Close(Aug. 6, 2014). cited by applicant .
BRAGI Update--On Track, Design Verification, How It Works and
What's Next(Jul. 15, 2015). cited by applicant .
BRAGI Update--On Track, on Track and Gems Overview (Jun. 24, 2015).
cited by applicant .
BRAGI Update--Status on Wireless, Supply, Timeline and Open
House@BRAGI(Apr. 1, 2015). cited by applicant .
BRAGI Update--Unpacking Video, Reviews on Audio Perform and Boy Are
We Getting Close(Sep. 10, 2015). cited by applicant .
Last Push Before the Kickstarter Campaign Ends on Monday 4pm CET
(Mar. 28, 2014). cited by applicant .
Staab, Wayne J., et al., "A One-Size Disposable Hearing Aid is
Introduced", The Hearing Journal 53(4):36-41) Apr. 2000. cited by
applicant .
Stretchgoal--It's Your Dash (Feb. 14, 2014). cited by applicant
.
Stretchgoal--The Carrying Case for the Dash (Feb. 12, 2014). cited
by applicant .
Stretchgoal--Windows Phone Support (Feb. 17, 2014). cited by
applicant .
The Dash + The Charging Case & The BRAGI News (Feb. 21, 2014).
cited by applicant .
The Dash--A Word From Our Software, Mechanical and Acoustics Team +
An Update (Mar. 11, 2014). cited by applicant .
Update From BRAGI--$3,000,000--Yipee (Mar. 22, 2014). cited by
applicant.
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Primary Examiner: Gonzales; April G
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Goodhue, Coleman & Owens,
P.C.
Parent Case Text
RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent
Application No. 62/211,716, filed Aug. 29, 2015, hereby
incorporated by reference in its entirety.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A system of wearable or personal area devices comprising: a
first earpiece comprising (a) a first earpiece housing, (b) an
induction circuit disposed within the first earpiece housing for
short range communication, (c) a radio transceiver disposed within
the first ear piece housing for radio communications, (d) wherein
the induction circuit within the first ear piece is adapted for
communication using high bandwidth audio; wherein the induction
circuit is a near field magnetic induction circuit, (e) wherein the
high bandwidth audio is more than 10 kHz with less than 3dB loss;
and a second earpiece comprising a second earpiece housing and an
induction circuit disposed within the second earpiece housing for
short range communication with the first earpiece.
2. The system of claim 1 wherein the induction circuit is a near
field magnetic induction circuit.
3. The system of claim 2 wherein the radio transceiver is a
Bluetooth radio transceiver.
4. The system of claim 2 wherein the radio transceiver is a
frequency modulation (FM) radio transceiver.
5. The system of claim 1 further comprising a mobile device in
operative communication with the first earpiece via the radio
transceiver disposed within the ear piece housing of the first
earpiece.
6. The system of claim 5 wherein the mobile device is in operative
communication with the second earpiece via a radio transceiver
disposed within the ear piece housing of the second earpiece.
7. An earpiece comprising: an earpiece housing; an induction
circuit disposed within the ear piece housing for short range
communication; and a radio transceiver disposed within the ear
piece housing for radio communications; wherein the induction
circuit within the ear piece is adapted for communication using
high bandwidth audio; wherein the induction circuit is a near field
magnetic induction circuit; wherein the high bandwidth audio is
more than 10 kHz with less than 3 dB loss.
8. The earpiece of claim 7 wherein the earpiece is a left
earpiece.
9. The earpiece of claim 7 wherein the earpiece is a right
earpiece.
10. The earpiece of claim 7 further comprising a battery disposed
within the earpiece, the battery operatively connected to the
induction circuit and the radio transceiver.
11. The earpiece of claim 7 further comprising an intelligent
control disposed within the earpiece housing, the intelligent
control operatively connected to the induction circuit and the
radio transceiver.
12. The earpiece of claim 7 further comprising at least one
microphone associated with the earpiece housing.
13. The earpiece of claim 7 further comprising one or more speakers
associated with the earpiece housing.
14. The earpiece of claim 7 further comprising storage disposed
within the earpiece for storing a plurality of audio files.
15. An earpiece comprising: an earpiece housing; an induction
circuit disposed within the ear piece housing for short range
communication; a radio transceiver disposed within the ear piece
housing for radio communications; an intelligent control disposed
within the earpiece housing; a microphone associated with the
earpiece housing; a speaker associated with the earpiece housing; a
battery disposed within the earpiece housing and operatively
connected to the induction circuit, the radio transceiver and the
intelligent control; a storage device disposed within the earpiece
housing for storing one or more audio files, the storage device
operatively connected to the intelligent control; wherein the
induction circuit is adapted for communication using high bandwidth
audio of more than 10 kHz with less than a 3 dB loss.
16. The earpiece of claim 15 wherein the induction circuit is a
near field magnetic induction circuit.
17. The earpiece of claim 16 wherein the radio transceiver is a
Bluetooth transceiver.
18. The earpiece of claim 17 wherein the earpiece housing is water
resistant to allow for use of the earpiece when submerged in water.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to wearable devices. More
particularly, but not exclusively, the present invention relates to
a multimodal communication system using induction and radio
communications.
BACKGROUND
One of the problems with wearable devices relates to
communications. For purposes here, examples of problems with ear
piece systems are described although the present invention is not
necessarily limited to this particular context. For example, where
there are two earpieces a Bluetooth transmission failure may be
detected between the two earpieces precluding an inter-ear system
from working. Even with recalibration and RF tuning, a persistent
and unacceptable drop in output from the paired earpiece may occur.
Such performance is untenable, as devices should work in a number
of different use environments and user situations. Using the 2.4
GHz band, this wavelength may be absorbed to a great degree by the
surrounding soft tissues of the head, brain and neck. Further,
transmission power may be limited by space as well as the
requirement of device placement at the external auditory canal.
Power requirements using high frequency communications such as
those found in the ISM band or Bluetooth standard to adequately
transmit to a counterpart wireless earpiece may be physiologically
unacceptable. FM transmissions may also have issues with
interference, privacy concerns and geographical variances.
Additionally, Bluetooth standard transmissions may not be able to
accommodate to the anatomic demands of transmission through or
around the soft tissues of the cranium. Still further, such a
system may be unstable in high humidity environments such as on a
beach, walking through snow, on a forest floor or while submerged
in water. What is needed is an improved wearable device which may
communicate with other wearable devices.
SUMMARY
Therefore, it is a primary object, feature, or advantage to improve
over the state of the art.
It is a further object, feature, or advantage to provide an
improved earpiece and/or set of ear pieces.
It is a still further object, feature, or advantage to provide the
ability to transfer high quality audio and data streams between the
two earpieces.
Another object, feature, or advantage is to minimize deterioration
of signal between two earpieces.
Yet another object, feature, or advantage is to provide high
quality transmission of inter device signals such as inter ear
signals.
A further object, feature, or advantage is provide devices such as
earpieces which are stable when in proximity to water and high
humidity states, forest floors, beaches, skiing, running or walking
through the snow, to name but a few examples of environmental
conditions.
One or more of these and/or other objects, features, or advantages
will become apparent from the specification and claims that follow.
No single embodiment need exhibit each and every object, feature,
or advantage. It is contemplated that different embodiments will
have different objects, features, or advantages.
According to one aspect a system of wearable devices is provided.
The system includes a first earpiece and a second ear piece. Each
of the earpieces includes an ear piece housing, an induction
circuit disposed within the ear piece housing for short range
communications, and a radio transceiver disposed within the ear
piece housing for radio communications. The induction circuit of
the first ear piece and the induction circuit of the second ear
piece are adapted for communication there between. The induction
circuit may be a near field magnetic induction circuit or other
type of induction circuit. The radio transceiver may be a Bluetooth
radio transceiver, a frequency modulation (FM) radio transceiver or
other type of radio transceiver. The system may further include a
mobile device in operative communication with the first earpiece
via the radio transceiver disposed within the ear piece housing of
the first earpiece. The mobile device may also be in operative
communication with the second earpiece via the radio transceiver
disposed within the ear piece housing of the second earpiece. The
system also may further encompass other devices constituting a
personal area network. Such devices are not limited to wearable,
ingestible and implantable devices.
According to another aspect, an earpiece includes an earpiece
housing, an induction circuit disposed within the ear piece housing
for short range communication, and a radio transceiver disposed
within the ear piece housing for radio communications. The earpiece
may be a left earpiece or a right earpiece. The induction circuit
may be a near field induction circuit, a magnetic induction
circuit, or other type of induction circuit. The earpiece may
further include a battery disposed within the earpiece, the battery
operatively connected to the induction circuit and the radio
transceiver. There may be an intelligent control disposed within
the earpiece housing, the intelligent control operatively connected
to the induction circuit and the radio transceiver. There may be at
least one microphone associated with the earpiece housing. There
may be at least one speaker associated with the earpiece
housing.
According to another aspect, an earpiece includes an earpiece
housing, an induction circuit disposed within the ear piece housing
for short range communication, a radio transceiver disposed within
the ear piece housing for radio communications, an intelligent
control disposed within the earpiece housing, a microphone
associated with the earpiece housing, a speaker associated with the
earpiece housing, and a battery disposed within the earpiece
housing and operatively connected to the induction circuit, the
radio transceiver and the intelligent control. The induction
circuit may be a near field magnetic induction circuit or other
type of induction circuit. The radio transceiver may be a Bluetooth
transceiver or other type of radio transceiver.
According to another aspect, a method for communication between
wearable and personal area devices is provided. The method includes
providing a first wearable device comprising a wearable device
housing, an induction circuit disposed within the wearable device
housing for short range communication, and a radio transceiver
disposed within the wearable device housing for radio
communications. The method further includes providing a second
wearable device comprising a wearable or personal area device
housing, an induction circuit disposed within the wearable device
housing for short range communication, and a radio transceiver
disposed within the wearable device housing for radio
communications. The method further includes communicating
information between the first wearable device and the second
wearable device using the induction circuit of the first wearable
device and the induction circuit of the second wearable device. The
communicating information may include communicating the information
through a human body. The first wearable device may be a first
earpiece and the second wearable device may be a second earpiece.
The step of communicating the information through the human body
may include communicating the information through a head. The
information may include an audio stream or other data. The method
may further include communicating data between the first wearable
device and a computing device or mobile device using the radio
transceiver of the first wearable or personal area device.
Similarly, the method may further include communicating data
between the second wearable or personal area device and a computing
device or mobile device using the radio transceiver of the second
wearable or personal area device. Information communicated with the
induction circuitry may include high bandwidth audio including
audio greater than that associated with the vocal range, audio more
than 7 kHz, 8 kHz, 9 kHz, 10 kHz, 11 kHz, 12 kHz, 13 kHz, 14 kHz,
15 kHz, 16 kHz, 17 kHz, 18 kHz, with less than 3 dB loss.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 illustrates one example of a system of wearable devices in
the form of a set of ear pieces.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating one example of a wearable
device.
FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a system of wearable devices in
operative communication with a computing device in the form of a
mobile device.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
FIG. 1 illustrates one example of a wearable device in the form of
a set of earpieces 10 including a left ear piece 12A and a right
earpiece 12B. Each of the ear pieces 12A, 12B has an ear piece
housing 14A, 14B which may be in the form of a protective shell or
casing which is preferably water resistant or water tight to allow
the ear pieces to function across a number of different
environmental conditions including when submerged in water or in
high humidity. A light display area 16A, 16B is present on each of
the ear pieces 12A, 12B. The light generation areas 16A, 16B each
provide for producing light of one or more colors.
The wearable device may provide for a plurality of different modes
of operation. One mode of operation of the device relates to
gestural movements. For example, where a user performs a gestural
movement which is interpreted by the device the device may light or
activate one or more lighting elements to confirm the gestural
movement or to indicate that the gestural movement could not be
interpreted. In addition, audio feedback may be used to confirm a
gestural movement or to indicate that the gestural movement could
not be interpreted. As shown, one or more detectors or receivers
24A, 24B may also be present to detect changes in energy fields
associated with gestures performed by a user. The receivers 24A,
24B in combination with one or more emitters provide a gesture
based user interface.
Also as shown in FIG. 2, an intelligent control 30 which may
include one or more processors or other circuits is shown. The
intelligent control 30 is operatively connected to one or more
sensor(s) 32 which may include one or more microphones, one or more
inertial sensors (such as accelerometers, gyro sensors, compass, or
magnetometers), one or more physiological parameter sensors (such
as a pulse oximeter or temperature sensor), a temperature sensor,
or combinations thereof. Preferably at least one of the microphones
has a frequency response suitable for ambient or environment sounds
including the ability to pick up sounds well above the 7 kHz or so
associated with the vocal range. Thus the device may be configured
to allow unimpeded or unmodified environmental sounds to be
captured and reproduced for the user by capturing the sounds at one
side of a barrier formed by the ear piece housing and reproducing
the sounds at a speaker 35 at the other side of the barrier. The
intelligent control 30 is also operatively connected to the speaker
35. The intelligent control may include a data processor and a
signal processor. The intelligent control 30 is also operatively
connected to both an induction circuit 34 and a radio transceiver
36 and storage 33. The storage may be used to store one or more
audio files and may be a solid state memory or other memory. Thus
an audio stream associated with an audio file may be communicated
through the induction circuit 34 to another device. A battery (not
shown) which is also housed within the wearable device housing may
be used in a conventional manner to power the various components of
the wearable device.
The wearable devices may communicate with each other to share
information. This information may include information related to
user input such as gestures performed at one of the devices. This
information may also include other information such as audio
streams received at one of the devices. Of course, other
information may also be communicated between the wearable devices.
Each of the wearable devices includes the induction circuit 34
which may be a magnetic induction circuit, a near field induction
circuit, or a near field magnetic induction circuit. Use of the
induction circuit 34 allows the wearable devices to communicate
with one another even through the human body. Where the wearable
devices are both earpieces, the induction circuit 34 allows the
earpieces to communicate through the human head. A near field
magnetic induction (NFMI) circuit may include a core and a
plurality of coil turns wrapped around the core. The core may
include ferrite or may be an open air core or other type of
core.
The wearable devices 14 also include a radio transceiver 36 for
wireless communications. Although it is contemplated that the radio
transceiver 36 may be of any number of types and use any number of
different communication protocols, one example of a radio
transceiver that may be used is a Bluetooth radio transceiver.
Other examples include ultra-wideband (UWB) transceivers, frequency
modulation (FM) radio transceivers, or any number of other types of
radio transceivers. One of the purposes of the radio transceiver 36
is for communication with other computing devices including mobile
devices. FIG. 3 illustrates one example of a mobile device 60 with
a machine readable storage medium upon which a software application
or "app" 62 may be stored. The radio transceiver may be used to
communicate information between the wearable device and the mobile
device 60. The information may include one or more audio streams.
For example, the mobile device 60 may communicate an incoming audio
stream including a voice signal associated with a phone call or
chat session or audio or video conference to the radio transceiver
of the wearable device. Similarly, the radio transceiver of the
wearable device may communicate an outgoing audio stream including
a voice signal associated with the user of the wearable device to
the mobile device. Alternatively, music may be streamed to or from
the wearable device. Of course, there are many other examples of
information which may be communicated between the wearable device
and mobile devices or computing devices. This may include user
input, sensor readings, audio information, diagnostic information,
and other types of information or data. In addition, the mobile
device 60 and app 62 may be operatively connected to a network 68
and may communicate user input, sensor readings, audio information,
diagnostic information, and other types of information or data
across the network 68.
Thus, in operation a method is provided for communication between
wearable devices. The method may include communicating information
between the first wearable or personal area device and the second
wearable or personal area device using the induction circuit of the
first wearable device and the induction circuit of the second
wearable device. The information may be of any number of types
including an audio stream or a stream from an input sensor signal
or other type of data. Note that using an induction circuit avoids
numerous issues associated with radio communications including the
need for frequent recalibration, RF tuning, persistent and
unacceptable drops in outputs, and other issues. Moreover, using an
induction circuit avoids issues with the body absorbing the RF
especially the soft tissues of the head, brain and neck. In
addition, use of the induction circuit is appropriate for
communications in any number of different environments including
high humidity environments such as on a beach, walking through
snow, on a forest floor or while submerged in water.
It is to be further understood that where the devices are ear
pieces or other wearable or personal area devices, that the
induction circuit is configured for high bandwidth audio suitable
for music or ambient noise. Note that this is in contrast to
devices such as hearing aids which have bandwidths specifically
constrained to those associated with the vocal range (e.g. around 7
kHz and under). Thus, preferably the device is configured to
provide a bandwidth of more than 7 kHz (with less than 3 dB loss),
more than 8 kHz (with less than 3 dB loss), more than 9 kHz (with
less than 3 dB loss), more than 10 kHz (with less than 3 dB loss),
more than 11 kHz (with less than 3 dB loss), more than 12 kHz (with
less than 3 dB loss), more than 13 kHz (with less than 3 dB loss),
more than 14 kHz (with less than 3 dB loss), more than 15 kHz (with
less than 3 dB loss), more than 16 kHz (with less than 3 dB loss),
more than 17 kHz (with less than 3 dB loss), more than 18 kHz (with
less than 3 dB loss), more than 19 kHz (with less than 3 dB loss),
or more than 20 kHz (with less than 3 dB loss). Therefore, the term
"high bandwidth audio" as used herein refers to a bandwidth which
is greater than that associated with the vocal range and thus more
than 7 kHz with less than 3 dB loss. The induction circuit is
configured for high bandwidth audio by selection of the coil
parameters and/or other circuitry which achieve the desired
bandwidth and loss.
Therefore various examples of wearable or personal area devices and
related methodologies and systems have been shown and described. It
is to be understood that the present invention contemplates
numerous options, variations, and alternatives. Therefore, the
present invention is not to be limited to the specific disclosure
set forth herein.
* * * * *